New York Attorney General Letitia James secured the guilty plea of Rachel Paillet, a nursing home aide formerly employed at the Pearl Nursing Center of Rochester (The Pearl), for stealing a resident’s debit card and withdrawing over $60,000. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) Medicaid Fraud Control Unit (MFCU) found that from April 2023 to November 2023, Paillet made 220 withdrawals using the resident’s card. Paillet spent the money on groceries, bills, and lottery tickets in an attempt to win back the money she had stolen. Paillet’s victim had a debit card that was primarily used for incidental costs and to cover monthly payments for his nursing home care. In November 2023, when his payment to The Pearl was declined for insufficient funds, the facility contacted his bank and learned of multiple ATM withdrawals between April and November of 2023. An MFCU investigation found that Paillet had stolen the resident’s debit card and used it to withdraw cash at ATMs in the Rochester area, primarily at Delta Sonic Car Wash, Wegmans, and Tops locations. Paillet withdrew over $60,000 of the resident’s money in the seven-month period.